Teddy Rader of Maternity Protection
Meet Teddy Rader, founder of Maternity Protection, a consulting firm dedicated to helping employers help families by determining and mitigating workplace exposures that are linked to causing adverse effects on unborn children.
What is Maternity Protection?
Maternity Protection is a consulting firm focused on providing maternity risk assessment services and developing programs to mitigate risks to unborn children and organizations.
The Safe for Baby App uses bar code scanning technology to determine if products contact ingredients that are known to cause complications and birth defects.
How did you come up with the idea?
Whenever a baby is born with a birth defect, it’s heart breaking. Science and technology has improved so much over the years that we can now pinpoint a mother’s exposure to a chemical during gestation that causes a birth defect. Was Mom made aware that her exposure to that chemical at work could cause a birth defect in her child? Did her employer communicate all risks to her and her unborn child? Did the organization provide specific instructions per OSHA’s (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) new Hazard Communication standard? When you start putting the puzzle together you quickly find out there is a desperate need for Maternity Protection. We also help the employer by protecting them against litigation from birth defects and/or complications due to a mother’s exposure at work. Once all this clicked, the idea was born.
What was the biggest surprise in starting your business?
I’ve worked on other business ideas in the past. Some have worked, others have failed. What’s extremely surprising to me is that I have yet to meet one person that argues Maternity Protection is a bad idea, an idea that wouldn’t work, an idea that isn’t needed. It’s fascinating because everyone is so critical of your ideas and opinions that they are so quick to point out the flaws and tell you the idea wouldn’t work. This is my first idea that no one has ever challenged me on. That’s surprising!
What does a typical day in your business look like?
Maternity Protection is still in its infancy. We haven’t had any typical days just yet. Our days are packed full of conceptualizing, planning, and hammering out key details.
What are some of the advantages to doing business in Ohio?
One real big advantage is having my team local. There is something about being able to meet in person rather than online that provides the ability for us to achieve more, efficiently.
Can you share a funny or amazing entrepreneurial experience with our readers?
I learned how customers are always right. At least, how you should make the customer think they are always right.
I sold products on Amazon for a while. I did real well for the time I lasted. You see, what happened was I let my emotions get a hold of me and spoke before I thought. It turns out my interaction with my customer, whom happened to be a judge, ultimately got me suspended from selling on the Amazon platform. No matter what, you need to treat your customer right. It was hard to swallow, but a lesson well learned. I can thank Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon) for that!
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by achieving milestones and goals I set for myself.
What founders do you admire and why?
I admire anyone who has the courage to get up and start a business. It’s not easy, it’s not sexy, and a lot of the time it doesn’t pay the bills. I think it takes a real special person with thick skin and a whole bunch of courage to start up a business, especially today. To all the founders that have established a business, rock on! To those founders-to-be, I wish you all the best of luck.
What’s next for you?
Saving the next generation by teaching organizations how to communicate risks to unborn children.
Interview by Joe Baur